Marina Mahathir: Putrajaya’s image affected by bad handling of Bersih
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal, The Malaysian Insider
The government’s poor handling of the Bersih rally has given it a bad image internationally, Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir said yesterday.
Marina, eldest daughter of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, said that unlike the government, “the world” did not have a bad impression of Malaysians who took part in the rally because they were standing up for their rights and for a cause — demanding free and fair elections.
“There are also some people claiming that the world now has a bad impression of Malaysia because the foreign media (and the local media for that matter) reported only about the tear-gassing and water-cannoning,” Marina said in a blog post yesterday. “I think people are confusing the government with the people.
“Yes, the world now has a bad impression of the Malaysian government because it has handled this whole issue so badly. They don’t have the same impression of the Malaysians who stood up for their rights and their cause.”
Marina, a social activist who was among the thousands who were in the capital city on Saturday facing the riot police, defended the Bersih supporters, saying that they had assembled peacefully and did not cause any harm or violence.
